How technique specific are your rods

[Choporoz]

As @AlabamaSpothunterdescribed,  having technique-specific rods doesn't necessarily mean that was the goal.   Every rod purchase had an intended or imagined use.  Few of those purchases were entirely satisfactory.  So a rod might get pigeonholed and another rod may be acquired that I hope will be perfect for a number of things....but it will inevitably be disappointing doing one or more of those things.  I have lots of rods that I use for narrow list of techniques.   I didn't set out with that intent. 

[Junk Fisherman]

My rods aren't technique-specific however I end up primarily using a small number of presentations on each rod.  For example if I just look at my spinning arsenal:

 

Daiwa Steez 761:  Primary:  Neds   Secondary: Hairjigs, Hover strolling 

Daiwa Steez 761:  Primary:  Neko   Secondary: Wacky, tubes

Dobyns 741 HP:   Finesse swimbaits and underspins 

Dobyns 742 HP:   Primary:  Dropshot   Secondary: Free rig, shakey

Dobyns 702 XP:   Primary:  4" swimbait and ballhead jig  Secondary:  All-around

 

Except for the 741 which is a light action rod, all of those rods are medium light action which are the most versatile spinning action and handle 80% of my spinning needs.  The Steez 761 has a ridiculous 1/16 oz to 3/4 oz lure range so that covers everything I'll throw on spinning gear.   Except for a few instances, if I need heavier than a ML action spinning rod I'll go to a baitcasting outfit.   

 

[padlin]

I’ve got 8 Crescent wrenches.

 

[N Florida Mike]

Mine are the most  specific they’ve been in my life. Largely because I have gradually added to my collection through the years.

I don’t have time right now to be specific but I have combos for:

• Small  baits-

• plastic worms 

•  Yum dingers/senkos

•  Flukes/larger plastics 

• Spinnerbaits

• Frogs/ heavier baits 

• Live bait combos

Just because all the bait groups aren’t listed doesn’t mean I don’t fish them.

I just don’t fish them enough to have a dedicated combo for them. 
It took me a long time fishing my combos with different baits to find what works best on what.

I’m expecting a combo that will be a dedicated heavier bait set up, which is essentially a higher gear ratio reel upgrade for my frog / heavy bait fishing. I’ll also use it for heavier plastics.

 

 

 

 

[FryDog62]

There’s a balance here, and it’s probably different for everyone..

 

For me, tying and retying a few rods all day long for different techniques is inefficient and a PIA in my opinion. That said, I might only fish 4-6 different techniques any given day.  The challenge is, you don’t always know which technique(s) will prevail before you set out on the water. 
 

In my boat, I had 15 rod tubes.. I always felt if I had more rod/reel combos than that, then I was inefficient and over-thinking things.  It seemed to work well -

[Susky River Rat]

I just try to stay in the middle of the rod power rating. 

[Jigfishn10]

^^ Same ^^

[Catt]

2 hours ago, Catt said:

100% Catt specific 😉

 

I don't give my rods names, that way if I throw a worm on a spinnerbait rod it doesn't get confused.

 

My favorite "worm" rod was a Shimano Crucial 6' 10" Medium Heavy X-Fast, it was rated by Shimano as a spinnerbait specific rod.

 

Sorry but not even Gary Loomis can tell me what I like in a rod. 

[Jigfishn10]

I have a small deck on my boat so I'm a minimalist when it comes to how much "stuff" is on the deck. So I'll play rod bingo. If one rod isn't doing the trick for whatever reason, even tho it worked before, I'll switch....and switch....until "bingo" ... that one worked  

 

To combat, I do you use MHF to eliminate the amount of switching

[ike8120]

The majority of my gear is technique specific. I have one or two rods that are universal.

[Reel]

Very, very, very specific ! Along the years, I have found rods that are PERFECT for what I do.  I would not be without them.  When I break one. it's very difficult to replace.  

[Swamp Girl]

I am in love with @FryDog62's organization. They say opposites attract and anyone who's seen photos of my canoe know that I'm the utter opposite. If you haven't seen any pics of my messy canoes, here's one:

 

 

Still, I'm in love @FryDog62's boat. 

 

I will grab a different rod for smallies. I'd use a ML or M, but I quickly learned that you can't keep an lmb from weeds with merely a M, so all my lmb rods are MH and all about 7' 2" long. 

[Mobasser]

Fishing from my canoe, I only keep three rods on hand. I have one bottom contact, one mid depth, and one top water. All are versatile.

[Swamp Girl]

There are more of us crescent wrench-ers than I would have guessed.

 

Well, this wrench wench is happy for the company!

[Jigfishn10]

40 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

There are more of us crescent wrench-ers than I would have guessed.

 

Well, this wrench wench is happy for the company!

Well, not exactly a wench  

[new2BC4bass]

I dedicate a rod for frogs.  Obviously it could do a lot more.  I have a Light power spinning rod that hasn't been used down here, but if I still lived in NY, it would be seeing a lot of use for bluegills, sunnies, perch, crappies, and rock bass.  I have a rod dedicated for jigs, but also obviously capable of much more.  Have a couple crankbait rods that don't get used for anything else.  Need to find a dedicated jerkbait rod.

 

Otherwise my rods are multiple purpose.

[Brian11719]

20 hours ago, August said:

What would you recommend for a guy planning on 10-15 setups higher end setups?

I would say don't buy them all at once. In my case I quickly noticed my taste in style, brand etc. actually started to change / evolve and the ones I started out with are definitely not what I've got now or what I would get if I could waive a wand and start over.

 

Also, pick brands that will sell easily if you decide you don't want to keep one for any reason. In my case I've noticed Dobyn's and St. Croix seem to sell easier than some other brands (your mileage may vary). 

I've actually got about 8 currently that I would say cover 99% of what I do. 3 spinning rods and 5 casting but again you might find that you like different lures and end up going in a completely different direction. 

 

Glenn posted this video a few years ago and 5 of the 8 in my list are also mentioned in it so might also be worth watching if you haven't already. If you are interested you can add a 6'10 jerkbait casting rod and a couple of more spinning rods to his list and you have mine.

 

But again the one thing I'd say before anything else is don't buy them all right away. Try one or two out if you like it great maybe get more from whoever made it or if not maybe try a different brand. The other benefit to being patient is you can usually pick things up on sale and get a better deal rather than if you just go all in and buy everything as soon as possible.

In my case I've found I like the $150-300 range for most techniques. I do have some more expensive stuff (eg. I have one rod that I only use for drop shots) but for most rods this range seems to be the best value. In terms of brands I'd suggest today for spinning stuff I like Shimano or St. Croix and for casting stuff I like Dobyns. I'd also really like to try a Cashion Icon out at some point and it looks like they are on sale right now (as are Dobyns rods) but have decided to hold off on buying any more rods for the time being.

 

In terms of techniques I think this is a good list and you can use each rod for 3-5 different lures. For example the jerkbait rod I mentioned also works well for poppers and throwing a mini max or a small lipless crankbait...

[SpellCaster]

Probably one of the least experienced here to contribute to the conversation, but in 4 1/2 years I've been able to cram in A LOT of time beating the banks, and it's granted me a better understanding of what setups I really like for how I fish. My go-to setup for almost anything is going to be a 7' M F fairy wand. My second setup has taken me a while to find the right combo that works for me but it's a 7' MH F baitcaster with left handed reel (though I'm righthanded - I just like the crank on the left side per spinning reels). Obviously, lighter/more finesse lures go on the spinning setup, with heavier lures/frogs on the baitcaster, but there's a certain amount of overlap between the rods (flukes, topwaters, swimbaits, T-Rig, etc), which is nice because I can opt for the baitcaster in heavy vegetation. 

 

[MickD]

On 12/23/2024 at 9:58 PM, August said:

OK so I'm coming in here saying the term 'technique specific' is over and perhaps even misused.

Yup.  Highly over-used, highly over-rated.  It's mostly about marketing. 

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

On 12/23/2024 at 9:42 PM, A-Jay said:

OK so I'm coming in here saying the term 'technique specific' is over and perhaps even misused.

And I lean that way because rods are tools and selecting the right tool for the job is what I strive to do every trip on the water.  Could I fish one or two rods for a Jig, a swimbait, a crankbait, an A-Rig, a topwater bait, a hair jig, jerkbait ?  Maybe but I'm certain I'd struggle.

If one fishes a Texas Rig 24/7 - might not need much variation in the arsenal. 

Otherwise, matching a bait to a rod, reel & line for me is simply part of being an experienced basshead.  So I'm not buying the technique specific deal.

If an angler is successful fishing his or her deals on a few of the same type of rods, that's cool.

But I'm a hack and need all the help I can get.

So there's that.

A-Jay

The way I look at it “technique specific “ is a rod with attributes that work exceptionally well in a given application. That doesn’t mean the same rod wouldn’t work well or as well in another application. Not every technique is highly dependent on specific rods either. Pick the right tool for the job and fine tune as you see fit. 

[MonsterZero]

Not very. I have three rods to cover pretty much everything. One handles all of my topwater needs, one handles all of my subsurface needs, and one is a spinning outfit specifically for stuff too light for my baitcasters. I do not feel the need to have crankbait specific rods, frog specific rods, etc.

[Texas Flood]

Before I got into tournament fishing, I had probably 4 or 5 combos that covered everything.
 

I’ve cut my combos down now but it’s probably around a dozen. 

[Bass Rutten]

2 hours ago, Texas Flood said:

Before I got into tournament fishing, I had probably 4 or 5 combos that covered everything.
 

I’ve cut my combos down now but it’s probably around a dozen. 

 

Funny, before I started tourney fishing I had around a dozen, and I've cut back to 5 (co-angler).

[twisted_metal]

My crank'n/jerkbait rods are definitely technique specific (very moderate action- treble hooks).  Also my flip'n sticks are used for their intended application. My finesse spinning gear is technique specific.  Outside of that all my fast action 6'6" to 7'6" are used for a wide variety of techniques jig, worm, c-rigs/t-rigs, some topwater, flukes, small paddle tails swimbaits and Spinnerbaits to name a few.

[wvhunt]

I grew up with the belief that I needed an ultralight rod for small fish, a heavy rod for catfish, and another rod for everything else.  It was until the internet came around that I learned about all the technique specific rods, lines, etc.  I'm still pretty much "light poles, medium poles, and heavy poles", but I just have a lot more of them now